Lifeline
by Author sama277
Summary: CHAPTER 2 UP! Shinji comes to a new town, inherits a farm, and meets lots of new people. But he learns that having friends doesnt make life easy. Yaoi. Not a two minute story. Meh, I'm better at writing stories than summaries. Read!
1. Shinji

**A/N:** Hallo, people! I was bored one day, so I started daydreaming about Harevst Moon - the gameboy game. Meh, I liked how things were going, so I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it. This will be yaoi - you have been warned - but the cute fluffiness kind. No fluffiness in this chappy, you'll see it later on. So...yeah...I just posted this to know how people liked it and if I should continue daydreaming about it or something else.

**Rating:** 'T' for yaoi and some language.

**Warnings:** This story does contain yaoi (M/M), you don't like, you don't read. It's as simple as that, people!

**Disclaimer:** Hmm...do I own it...? Meh, it's an OC game, so I really don't know. Let's put it this way, I only own Shinji, the OC.

* * *

Chapter 1

Shinji

A gentle breeze was drifting through the small valley, silently passing through the tiny, beaten down farm on the edge of the town. A young boy standing in front of one of the wooden buildings shuddered and tugged the windbreaker he was wearing closer to his lean body. Winter was almost over—the first day of Spring was tomorrow—but Winter's chilling atmosphere still lingered, making the deserted farm seem even more desolate. A thin layer of snow covered the ground, covering the many weeds that littered the ground as well.

The boy glanced around the pitiful farm anxiously, noting that it wasn't bustling with life as it used to be when he visited. Everything had changed—there weren't any signs of life anywhere he looked: no cows or sheep in the field, no horse trotting around arrogantly, no chickens to annoy the living hell out of him with their irritating clucking, no dog bounding up to him and then tackling him to the ground…and what was even more worrying was that there was no old man to greet the boy with a friendly smile. The boy frowned, his shoulder-length brown hair being ruffled by the wind.

_What is going on? Where is everyone…or everything…?_

Just as the boy began to grab the knob of the old, wooden door in front of him, a voice made him stop.

"Hey you!" yelled an angry voice from behind him. Shocked, the boy spun around, raising his arms in a defensive pose, only to be face-to-face with a short, plump, man with a big, brown bushy moustache under his nose. A red top-hat was placed upon his balding head.

"Ah!" the boy stared at the little man in surprise. "W-was I doing something…wrong!"

"The owner of this farm died a while back! You can't just come waltzing in here!" the man snapped. The boy's eyes widened in horror.

"He…he…died? Takura died?" the boy stuttered out. He hung his head, crestfallen. "I guess…that would explain things…"

The little man's glare disappeared and was replaced with a look of curiosity. "What? You knew him?"

The boy nodded without looking up.

"And you didn't know that he had died…?" he asked.

The boy nodded again without raising his head. At that moment, his shoes seemed a lot more interesting to him than what the man before him was saying.

The man frowned and gave the disheartened boy a look of sympathy. "He died about…Oh, six months ago, I recon. After his death, I came across his will. He had no family what-so-ever, so everything he owned was left to one single person. And until whoever that is shows up, I'm taking care of the farm." The boy didn't say anything, but when the man spoke again, he looked up.

"Will you tell me how you met the old man? Not very many people outside of this town knew him, so who are you to be familiar with Takura?" the man probed.

The boy's face tensed up with concentration, before sighing and looking at the stubby man. Shrugging, the boy's angled face became indifferent. His sharp, pointed, golden-brown eyes were glazed over as he tried to remember how he became friends with the old man.

"Hmm…it was a while ago—about eleven years ago, when I was five. My parents and I had gone on a vacation for the summer, down to this town. Heh, that rhymes. Anyway, we were staying at some inn, and one day we decided to climb up this mountain to see the peak. We stumbled onto a weird field of flowers and I kinda lost my way…"

The boy's voice trailed off as he racked his brain.

* * *

"_**Shinji? Are you having fun?"** a refined looking woman asked kindly. The small child sitting in the field ignored his mother. He was too busy picking the flowers around him and trying to weave them together to make a chain to answer his mother. A tall man next to his mother chuckled._

"_**Look at him! Of course he is! Just let him do what he wants, hunny. Let's go up a little further, I've heard that there's a great view at the peak,"** he said, wrapping his arms around his wife. She, however, looked skeptical. _

"_**But darling, what about Shinji?"** she asked. He just shrugged._

"_**He'll be fine—he's not going anywhere. Besides, the sun's going to set soon, and if we hurry, we could see the sunset from the peak of the mountain. Wouldn't that be great? And we'll just be up there—it isn't that far from here. And we'll still be able to see Shinji…"** he urged. The woman looked down at Shinji. He was still occupied with his chain of flowers and didn't seem to be paying any attention to his parents at all. After deliberating for a few moments, she finally smiled and nodded at her husband. _

"_**Okay. But let's go now. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get back,"** she agreed. The man smiled and took her hand in his, leading her higher up the mountain. Shinji was still oblivious to everything besides the chain of flowers he was trying to make. _

"_**ARRGH!"** Shinji yelled in frustration. The flowers just wouldn't piece together right, and he had been working at it for more than half an hour. The sun was already setting, and he only had half of a chain so far. _

"_**Mamma, why does these f'wers hate Shinji…?"** he asked sadly, expecting his mother to pick him up and give him a big hug. When it never came, he looked up from the pitiful half-chain of flowers and gasped. He was alone—all alone. Turning around, Shinji searched everywhere for his parents, but all he could see was the endless meadow of flowers. Shinji stood up, starting to panic. His parents weren't anywhere to be seen._

"_**Th-they…left Shinji?"** he meekly asked to no one in particular. He had gotten into the habit of talking to himself, answering himself and referring to himself in the third-person manner. _

"_**Well, they obviously aren't here!"** a flower below his foot seemed to answer. Shocked, Shinji felled to his knees and stared at the flower._

"_**D-do you…know where Shinji's parents is, Mr. F'wer?"** he begged. Like so many other words, Shinji couldn't say 'flower' right. Just like the words 'minimum' and 'Wednesday'. Man, I hate those words. The flower laughed evilly, but then fell silent. Shinji asked the flower again, but, again, it didn't answer. It never really did answer him in the first place, he just imagined it did. So when no answer was given, Shinji grew angry. Standing up, the young boy mercilessly stepped on the flower over and over again. _

"_**Stop mocking Shinji!"** he cried out. He was so frustrated. It seemed like the whole world was against him at that moment. Feeling hot tears fall down his cheeks, he looked up to see if it was raining, but then realized it was his tears. Stepping on the flower again, he yelled. Why did his parents leave him?_

_Balling his tiny hands into fists, Shinji turned around and ran, his unfinished flower-chain completely forgotten. _

_Shinji couldn't stop crying. He felt so out of place and helpless, and he had no clue where he was. Five wooden buildings were scattered across a giant stretch of land. A small doghouse was standing next a building that had a sign that said 'Barn' on it, and a large, aged dog was eyeing Shinji curiously from inside of the doghouse. Shinji cried harder. _

_Next to him, behind a fence made of logs, a giant white and black thing was watching him as well. When Shinji stopped to stare back at it, it made an extremely loud and scary noise that made Shinji fall on his backside. _

"_**MOOOOOOOO!"** it mooed very loudly. _

"_**AHHHHHHHHH!"** Shinji cried out, just as loud as the thing that was mooing. Since Shinji was making loud noises, the giant black and white thing started mooing even louder, making Shinji cry even louder. By now, everything else happening on the farm was being drowned out by Shinji's yelling and the big thing's mooing. Other giant black and white things joined the first one and began mooing at Shinji as well. Puffy white animals began to 'baa' at Shinji. The whole farm had gone crazy. _

"_**Oh…my! What is going on?"**_

_Shinji stopped yelling and turned around to face the person who had spoken. An old man was standing in the doorway of a small building that had 'Chicken Coop' engraved into it. Five small chickens crowded around his feet, staring at Shinji with red eyes. The old man sauntered over to Shinji and looked him up and down._

"_**Hey young man. Why are you crying? Did you get lost?"** he asked kindly, offering a hand to Shinji. When Shinji didn't accept his hand, the old man grabbed Shinji's backpack and lifted him up in the air. Taking him away from the angry cows and sheep, the old man tried to calm him down, but Shinji's small arms slipped from the backpack and he fell on his rear end again. _

"_**What's this?"** the old man asked, examining the worn backpack. **"Is that your phone number on your bag? Let's call you parents."**_

_The old man offered his hand to Shinji once again, and this time Shinji took it. The old man led him into on of the small, wooden building and called his parents. _

"_**Oh! Thank you! Thank you so much for helping us find our son!"** Shinji's mother cried out, rushing to her child and wrapping her arms around him. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she showered Shinji with kisses. Her husband stood next to them, a broad grin of relief spread across his face._

"_**Thank god…We live in the city, but we wanted to show our son the country on this trip,"** Shinji's father explained. _

"_**Is that so?"** the old man raised an eyebrow. **"In that case, why not come spend a few days on my farm?"**_

_Shinji's father's grin widened. **"You really mean it?"**_

"_**Sure!"** the old man exclaimed. **"I live alone, so you wouldn't bother anybody. I'd love the company!"**_

_After that, Shinji had so much fun. He did so many things that he had never dreamed of doing, such as riding one of those scary black and white things he later learned were called cows. He rode a horse who was way too arrogant for his own good, and played fetch with a shabby dog; he chased chickens around with a stick, and then was chased around by a pack of very angry, rabid chickens with red eyes. But because of his Attention Deficient Disorder, Shinji became bored the very next day. _

"_**Shinji's bored…"** he complained. _

"_**Shinji!"** his mother scolded. **"You have a whole farm to play on with animals and other weird things, and you're already bored!"** _

"_**Oh, it's alright, dear! Children become bored, it's what they do!"** the old man, Takura, laughed. **"If he's bored, he should go to the beach! Summer is the perfect time to go to the beach! I couldn't go, I still have work to do around here, but that shouldn't stop you!"**_

_Shinji's face lit up with excitement**. "Shinji hasn't never been to a beach before! Can Shinji go, Mamma!"**_

"_**Eh? Uh…fine, sweetie. I'll take you to the beach,"** his mother smiled. _

"_**Yay!"** Shinji cheered. _

_At the beach, Shinji's mother entered a small, quaint little beach house painted white, leaving Shinji to do what he wanted in the sand. He ran around for almost an hour, chasing sea gulls, and when there weren't anymore sea gulls to chase, he'd chase his reflection in the water. Soon, he became tired from making sand angels, then coughing up sand because he was laughing with his mouth open too much, so he collapsed on a pile of salty-smelling sand and closed his eyes. _

_After he regained his breath, he got an idea and started holding his breath. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming towards him, but Shinji still didn't open his eyes. It was very important that he didn't move at all. The footsteps stopped abruptly and he heard a gasp. _

"…_**Y…ah…! Uh…"** the voice stuttered. **"…ey…Hey!" **_

_Suddenly, the light from the sun was blocked off by something, making Shinji snap his eyes open. A young boy about a year older than him was on his knees, leaning over Shinji and staring down at him with grayish-blue eyes. A dark blue bandana with golden stars on it was tied around his head. He had tanned skin—it appeared that he was in the sun a lot—and his hair was midnight black. The bandana did nothing to hold it back, letting his shiny hair do what it wished. It fell down in a silky cascade around his shoulders, gently brushing against Shinji's cheeks, making his nose twitch. The other boy laughed and stood up. Dusting himself off, he turned to Shinji._

"_**You were so quiet that I thought you were dead!"** he laughed. **"Why are you lying on the ground like that? Are you trying to bury yourself?"**_

"_**No,"** Shinji replied simply._

"_**Hmm?"** the boy tilted his head to the side. **"Then why…?"**_

_Shinji laughed at him for being so stupid. **"Heehee, Shinji is being a speed-bump! Heehee, Shinji laughs at you for being so stupid!"**_

_The other boy only became even more confused. **"Why? And who's Shinji?"**_

_Shinji smiled. **"Shinji is Shinji! And a being a speed-bump is much better than being a rock! Duh!"**_

"_**Oh. But…who's Shinji?"**_

_Suddenly, Shinji's mother called out from the beach house. **"Shinji! Don't lay in the sand! Sand Sharks will attack you and eat your hair! And who is that next to you? Did you make a friend already?" **_

"_**Yes, Mamma!"** Shinji called back. _

_Shinji's mother looked confused. **"Yes what? Yes you made a friend…or yes you're lying in the sand?" **_

_Shinji shrugged. _

_Behind Shinji's mother, another woman looked out the door. Her hair was just as black as the boy standing next to Shinji, but she had a pink bandana holding her shoulder-length hair back. She was very white—almost pale-like—and her eyes were green. An apron as white as she was covered her petite body. _

"_**Is everything alright, Kai? Don't get yourself too sandy, now, it's almost rush hour,"** she called. The boy next to Shinji nodded. _

"'_**Kay, Ma!"** he called back. When the two women went back inside of the beach house to chat, the two boys turned to each other, smiling. The tan boy, Kai, stretched a hand out to Shinji. At first, Shinji just stared at it…then he tried to bite it. Kai reflexively withdrew his hand, then reached down and grabbed Shinji's hand. Using strong arms for a six-year-old, Kai pulled Shinji up and smiled at him. _

"_**Shinji, huh?"** Shinji nodded. Pointing a finger at himself, Kai grinned. **"Well I'm Kai!"**_

_Shinji tilted his head to the side. **"I know."**_

…

"_**Oh…"** Kai muttered. **"Anyway! Let's do something, okay Shinji?"**_

_Shinji looked down at his feet. **"But Shinji already chased the sea gulls away. And Shinji is tired of chasing after me in the water. And because of you, Shinji can't be a speed bump…so what else is there left to do?"** he asked Kai hopelessly._

_Kai stared at Shinji for a few moments, before bursting out laughing. **"You're so funny, Shinji! That's not all you do at a beach! There is so much more to do! Man, this is perfect! I was looking for someone to play together with! You're perfect, Shinji!"**_

_Shinji tilted his head to the side. **"Tell Shinji, what else can we do?"**_

_Kai smiled at Shinji, before grabbing his hands and leading him to the shore. **"How's about I show you instead?"**_

_Shinji smiled back as they kneeled down in the sand. Kai pulled out a plastic green bucket and filled it with sand. Once it was full to the brim, he turned the bucket over and slowly pulled the bucket away. In its place was an exact replica of the bucket, except sandy-sand instead of green plastic. _

"_**See?"** Kai showed him. _

"_**Oh!" **Shinji exclaimed. Kai laughed at his surprised expression. Handing the bright green bucket to him, Kai continued to laugh. _

"_**Here. You make one!"** he offered. But Shinji refused and smacked the bucket out of Kai's hands. He looked at Kai bewilderedly, like he had just broken some important taboo or something. _

"_**Why would we need the ugly green bucket when we have this magical weird one?"** Shinji asked. **"Shinji will just use this one, okay?" **_

"…_**Wait…"** Kai started. But Shinji ignored him and grabbed the doppelganger bucket, trying to pull it up. Kai burst out laughing again at the horrified look on Shinji's face when his fingers sunk into the sand bucket. Now it was all lopsided. Shinji's face twisted into a look of pure anguish as the sand poured through his fingers. Angry, he rose to his feet and began walking away. Kai stopped laughing immediately. _

"_**Y-you're leaving! W-why!"** Kai sputtered. Shinji ignored him and continued to walk. Suddenly, however, he turned on his heel so fast that sand sprayed into his face. Coughing up yet even more sand, Shinji began to run back to Kai, kicking up sand as he ran. When he was still about 4 feet from Kai, Shinji jumped into the air and tackled the sand bucket. _

"…_**Um…"** Kai just stared at Shinji as he began to cough up sand again. _

"_**Did you have fun?"** Takura asked Shinji and his parents. It was the end of their vacation, and they were finally going home. _

"_**Yes, thank you so much for letting us stay with you**!" Shinji's mother gushed._

"_**There is absolutely nothing we could ever do to make this up to you!"** Shinji's father said, shaking Takura's hand. Both of Shinji's parents bowed to the old man, but he waved it away, grinning._

"_**No, it's alright. Shinji, thank you for staying here with me. I sure had fun with you! I don't have any grandkids of my own, you know…Well, I suppose you have to go now. Farewell…"** Just as Takura turned his back, Shinji ran up to him and grabbed his pants leg. _

"_**Hmm…?"** Takura turned around and looked down at Shinji. Once he caught his attention, Shinji raised him arms and jumped up and down._

"_**You…you want me to carry you…?"** The old man asked. Shinji nodded. Grinning, Takura lifted Shinji up by under his arms and threw him in the air, catching him once he came back down. Shinji laughed and sat on Takura's shoulder, hugging his head. Shinji's parents smiled._

"_**I-I'll…miss you, old man!"** Shinji yelled. His parents gasped. That was the first time he had ever spoken in first person since he learned how to talk. He had always called himself 'Shinji'. Takura just smiled and put Shinji back on the ground. _

"_**Is there any chance of you writing an old man like me a letter once in a while…?"** he asked hopefully. Shinji nodded. _

"_**Really? Here's my address, then,"** Takura pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down his address and handed it to Shinji. _

"_**I'll see you kiddo!"** he grinned as he ruffled Shinji's hair. Shinji grinned back. With that last goodbye, they left the farm and headed down the street to the city square. It was a four-way intersection—to the right was the beach; to the left was the train station; ahead of them was the church, clinic, market, and library, and behind them was the farm. _

"_**Come, Shinji. We're headed for the train station,"** his mother tugged on his hand in the direction of the train station. _

"_**Ok…"** Shinji sighed. As he turned away, he heard a voice calling to him. Turning back around, Shinji smiled as he saw a midnight head covered by a blue bandana covered with golden stars bobbing his way. _

_**"Hey! Shinji!"** the voice called._

"_**Kai…!"** Shinji smiled. _

_He was so relieved that he got to see Kai before he left. In the few days that they had spent together, they had become fast friends. Shinji really didn't want to leave him, but he didn't exactly have a choice. Shinji had never had so much fun with a person before—they made sandcastles and sand-buckets; they collected shells; they went fishing, and when the fish wouldn't bite, they would throw the shells at them; they went on hikes; Shinji even got free food because of Kai at the beach house. His mother owned the beach house, and since Kai had no siblings, he was next in line to inherit the beach house. Kai once told Shinji that his father had left on a fishing trip and never came back when Kai was only three, and his mother was very sickly, so life kinda sucked for him. But that didn't make Shinji think of Kai any less of a person._

_Once, Shinji had stepped on a broken piece of glass, cutting the bottom of his foot. Angry at the piece of broken glass for hurting him, Shinji stomped on it with his other foot, not thinking that it would cut his other foot. Kai, being a good friend, tore the bandana he was wearing that day in half and bandaged both of Shinji's feet. He then carried Shinji on his back over to the clinic because Shinji couldn't walk on his own so Shinji could get professional help. Kai's precious bandana was, of course, ruined. But Shinji got to see Kai without his trademark bandana, so he was glad. Shinji was really going to miss him._

_Kai ran up to Shinji, out of breath. _

"_**I-I…I went to the…farm…but the old guy…said you weren't there…so I ran around town, looking for you…and…you're leaving already?"** Kai whined. _

_Shinji nodded. **"Yup, back to the city…I'm…gonna miss you!"**_

_Kai stopped. Did he really hear what he thought he heard? **"Did…did you say…'I'?"** _

_Shinji grinned and nodded. **"Yes! I do believe I did say 'I'!" **_

_Kai blinked, but then grew somber. **"So…you're really…leaving? Well…here…" **Slowly, Kai raised his hands and began to untie his bandana. He gracefully took it off and offered it to Shinji. **"Take…take it…"**_

_Shinji stared at the bandana in awe. Kai forced a laugh and grabbed Shinji's hand, placing his cherished bandana in it. Shinji closed his hands around it, running it through his fingers. _

"_**It's soft…"** Shinji whispered, laughing. He raised the bandana to his cheek and rubbed it against it. His eyes fluttered closed as the soft silk rubbed against his cheek. _

"_**H-hey…!"** Kai stopped him. **"I'm not…I'm not giving that to you! That's my favorite bandana! I'm just…just letting you…borrow it. Y-yeah, that's it! You have to give it back to me later, okay, Shinji? You…you have to come back. Come back, okay?"**_

_Shinji grinned**. "Okay! Of course I will! I promise that I'll keep it safe, okay?"**_

"_**Shinji dear, can you speed things up here? We really can't miss our train,"** Shinji's mother told her son as she checked her watch. _

"_**Eh? O-okay, Mamma. Kai…"** Shinji said, turning back to Kai. **"I'll miss you!"** he said, giving Kai a big hug. Kai stood there, shocked, before returning the hug. _

"_**I'll miss you, too, Shinji…Come back and see me, okay?"** Shinji smiled and nodded. Just as he let go of Kai, he reached up and pressed his lips to Kai's cheek. Kai blushed and pulled away, while Shinji turned back around to his parents, who just stared at their son and sighed. They decided to ignore the fact that he just kissed another guy and instead they headed for the train, pulling Shinji along with them. _

_As Shinji was being dragged away, he turned around and shouted, **"Bye Kai!"**_

_Kai, still blushing, raised his hand and gave a meek wave, a weak smile across his lips. **"Bye Shinji…"** he whispered._

* * *

"Ever since I left, I've been writing to the old man. He was writing back, but soon, I stopped getting his letters. I kept writing to him, asking if things were okay, but I never got another reply. Worried, I came to check on him, but found this place deserted. That's when you snuck up on me, scaring me shitless…" the boy explained to the short, plump man. 

"Oh…I see…by the way, what is your name?"

"Meh? My name? Shinji Mimura."

The little man gasped. "S-Shinji? Are you for real? Takura left everything in his will to a Shinji Mimura. Whoo, lucky you! You get his farm! Well, it's yours if you want it. What do you say, Shinji?"

Shinji shrugged. "Sure. I can't go back home, my parents disowned me for being hyperactive…Besides, there's someone who lives here who I really want to see again."

"Great!" the man beamed. "From here on out this place is yours! It won't be easy, but if you try hard, you can do a job to make Takura proud!"

Shinji nodded, glad that he had a chance to start a new life.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey, people! What did you think? Should I continue? No, there wasn't any yaoi in this chapter, just little kids having fun. Review and get cookies. 


	2. Bad Boy Boogie

**A/N:** Hallo, my peeps! I'm back! Well, I wasn't really gone in the first place, but this 'fic was on hiatus. In fact…it still is. I really have no clue as to why I wrote this, but rejoice! A new chappy! Yayness and joyness and stuff… -happy dance-

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Really, I don't. ;; Meepy.

**Warnings:** Rated for drinking, underage drinking, and bits of language.

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Chapter 2

Bad Boy Boogie

Shinji looked around the farm…_his_ farm disdainfully. There were so many weeds and stones! There was no way he could get rid of all of them! Sighing, he turned around to face the small wooden house. It was his house now. He was responsible not only for it, but every other item on this giant rotting patch of land. At the moment, he was the only living being inhabiting it – the plump little mayor, Thomas, had left a short while ago after giving Shinji a tour of the rundown farm and a long explanation of how to run things. It was hard for Shinji to imagine taking care of cows and sheep and horses and chickens when he could hardly keep a simple cat alive for more than a week. As a child, he usually got bored with his pets after only a few days, leaving his parents to take care of the animal. How in the hell was he going to take care of a farm_ full _of animals!

_This is impossible…_ he thought dryly_. I suppose I might as well go inside my '**new**' home…_ Shinji grabbed the knob of the door to the small house he had once stayed in as a child and pushed the door open. Looking around, he smiled lightly. It wasn't too bad on the inside. A small, one-person bed was against a wall in the upper right corner. The wooden floor was decorated with a simple rug, a table with two chairs resting atop the rug. A nightstand was placed nest to the bed and a small table with two drawers was sitting in bottom left corner of the house. Shinji figured that he was supposed to put his clothes in there. But the best thing by far about the little house was that it had…

"A TV!" Shinji grinned when he spotted the small television. Dropping his bag filled with his personal items on the bed, Shinji strode over to the TV pushed back against the wall next to the bed. Pressing the power button, the device flickered on, making Shinji wince. A picture of a woman with sunglasses and a wide brimmed sunhat appeared on the screen.

"_Today's weather will be sunny with a temperature reaching a high of 102 F and reaching a low of 84F," the woman announced. "A warm front will be passing over the valley later this afternoon. Tomorrow's weath—" _

But the reporter never got to finish her sentence as Shinji switched channels. This channel showed a woman and two men talking…about farming. Shinji sighed.

"_Now we'll take the farming quiz! This time, Jack will be the one to—"_

"Augh…" Shinji grunted, flipping the channels again. This time, flashing lights lit up the screen, making Shinji blink.

"_This week on 'Puni Puni Poemi' – Futaba is forced into slavery by the evil alien K! Poemi travels to space to save the beautiful maiden, but by a strange twist of fate, our heroine Poemi is killed by the alien! What will happen next! Will Poemi Watanabi be resurrected yet again! Will the evil alien K finally have his way with Futaba! Only you can know the answer to these questions by watching…'PUNI PUNI POEMI'! Rated_ _pg17 for naked anime girls, attempts to brainwash the viewer, attempted rape, attempted murder, attempted theft, attempted abuse, and little chibi blob-things randomly rolling giant balls around. Note to viewer: If we have not insulted you in some way, we have not done our job!"_

(Note: Puni Puni Poemi does NOT belong to me. It indeed exists as a movie and IS rated pg17. On the back of the case, it INDEED says, 'If we have not insulted you in any way, we have not done our jobs!' Believe me, that movie really messes with your mind. WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK!)

Shinji shook his head. That show did not sound pleasant – not even the naked anime girls. Shinji just didn't swing that way. Sighing, Shinji flipped the channel. A man next to a calendar appeared before Shinji's eyes.

"_On the 12th day of Spring, Barley, owner of the Yodel Farm, will be hosting the annual 'Cow Festival'. On the 18th of Spring, Thomas, the mayor of Mineral Town, will be hosting the Horse Races. On the 23rd of Spring, find your special someone to watch the Fireworks with."_

Shinji froze. 'Special someone'? The thought hadn't even crossed his mind when he first agreed to accept the farm as his own. Shinji sighed and pulled his knees to his chest. Was it really necessary to have a 'special someone' in this town? Shinji's last relationship hadn't ended to well – his boyfriend had dumped him in front of the entire high school they were attending at the time, saying that Shinji was 'too childish' for him. Since then, Shinji had vowed to act more mature. He would never be called 'childish' again, especially not in front of hundreds of people he knew. Hugging his knees and burying his head in his arms, Shinji figured that it _was_ necessary to have your 'special someone' in this town as he heard the man on the TV go into detail about the Fireworks event. If holidays were made especially for lovers, then a lover was obviously required in Mineral Town. A slight smile graced his lips as thoughts of a certain 'someone' crossed his mind.

Shinji's thoughts were soon interrupted, however, by a knock on the door. _His_ door. Rising to his feet, Shinji stretched his arms upward, wincing as he heard his bones crack unpleasantly. Man, this farming stuff was going to be tough.

Ignoring his bodily functions, Shinji made his way to the door, expecting Thomas to be behind the door, and, annoyed, snapped, "What do you want this time? Did you forget to explain to me how to use the bathroom or what the tree in my yard is for or anything else equally obvious?"

Opening the door, Shinji froze. He wasn't met with the now-familiar pink top hat or the giant bushy moustache taking over the short mayor's face or the wild yellow polka dot tie the mayor wore, but with a chest. A very _muscular_ chest. Looking up, Shinji was met with light brown eyes that were, at the moment, eyeing Shinji curiously.

"Grumpy, aren't we?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow, amused by the shocked expression on Shinji's face. The man was clad in nothing but simple jeans, a gray tank top that was obviously too small to fit his muscles properly, and a plain white towel was draped across his broad shoulders.

"Ah!" Shinji cried out, blushing. "You're not – I didn't mean – well, I thought…" Shinji sighed and pressed his forefingers to his temples, trying to regain enough composure to string a single sentence together. "I thought you were someone else…I'm sorry for attacking you like that…" Shinji ended his apology with a slight bow.

The older man just grinned cheerfully. "It's alright! So…I take it that you're the new guy?"

Shinji nodded. "Yeah, my name is Shinji Mimura. I now own this farm…"

The man's grin widened. "The name is Zack. I'm in charge of shipping for Mineral Town. See that bin over there?" The man named Zack indicated towards a large box with his forefinger, directing Shinji's gaze to it. Upon seeing the box, Shinji nodded. "That is you're Shipment Box. Put things you want to sell in there, and I'll come pick up whatever's in there by five pm everyday – excluding holidays. I'll take your shipments to the city to be sold and I'll give you the money when I come back. Depending on what you sell, you could make a lot of money fast. Like the herbs out in the mountain pay good money. Doctors in other towns and in the city can't find the plants elsewhere, so they're willing to pay good money for them."

Taking a breath, Zack glanced around Shinji's lifeless farm. Looking back at the boy, he said, "You also have the Chicken Coop for your chickens and a barn for cows and sheep. Another Shipment Box is in each of them, so any milk, wool, or eggs you get you can sell as well. You can ship anything you grow or find on the mountain."

Crossing his arms and nodding his head to himself, Zack's face had grown serious and had a sudden ferocious gleam to his eyes. Clenching his giant hand into a fist, he turned his attention to Shinji. "Work hard, but not too hard!" he practically yelled. "Don't overexert yourself! If your face turns blue, then that probably means you're about to collapse! If that happens, you'll be sent to the Clinic, and you'll be out of commission for a while! You may not have any animals now, but once you get some, you won't be able to afford to be out of commission."

Once Shinji gave the older man a shaky nod, Zack seemed satisfied and returned to his carefree self. Patting Shinji roughly on the back, he said, "Okay. I think that's everything you need to know! Now that you know the basics, farming should become easier as time goes by. Good luck!"

Shinji bowed slightly. "Thank you for your help."

Zack waved Shinji's thanks away with a flick of his hand. "Don't worry about it. Well, I should get going. Bye now. And remember: five pm everyday!"

With that last statement, Zack turned on his heel and left Shinji's farm. Shinji sighed. All of this farming seemed so pointlessly and un-essentially confusing. But there was one thing Shinji needed to know:

—where he could find Kai.

* * *

It was already late afternoon when Shinji began walking around the small town, trying to remember what was where. The memories from almost 12 years ago eluded his mind's grasp and became hazy from the elapsed time that had passed between then and now. Sighing, Shinji shrugged. He'd just have to relearn where everything was. Everything about coming here was just a mess.

Looking around, he saw two buildings – one of the buildings had a fence filled with chicken in it and had the words 'Poultry Farm' engraved in pink letters on a wooden sign. The other building was on the other side of the street and had a small sign in front of the door. A notice on the door announced to the world that this building was, indeed, 'Closed'. Walking up to the sign to read it, Shinji soon learned that it was a shop.

'Saibara the Blacksmith

Open 10AM-4PM

Closed Thursday'

Above that, the closed sign gently swayed in the gentle wind. Looking at his watch, Shinji learned that it was now…5:34PM. Like the sign said, this shop was closed. Shrugging, Shinji turned around to survey the other building on the other side of the street but stopped when a door behind him opened. Spinning around, Shinji's eyes were met with the coldest blue eyes Shinji had ever seen. The icy azure eyes flashed when they saw Shinji, and the boy whose eyes belonged to turned his head away from Shinji. Shinji took this moment to study the taller boy. A blue cap with the letters 'UMA' written on it covered the boy's unkempt blond hair, shadowing his pale face. A formal pallid suit covered his even ashier skin.

Looking up, the boy didn't smile or show any type of emotion at all as he stared back at Shinji. "I don't think I've seen you around here before." His voice was deep and smooth, making Shinji shiver.

Looking down, Shinji nodded. "I doubt you have. I just arrived yesterday, on the last day of Winter. I've just moved into the farm down back there."

"Oh, you're at the farm, are you?" The pale boy sighed. "Well…welcome to the boonies. The name's Gray."

Shinji smiled. "I'm Shinji." Shinji outstretched a hand towards Gray, still smiling. Gray stared at his hand for a moment, not moving and making Shinji feel a tad awkward, before shrugging and slowly grabbing Shinji's hand, giving it a light shake. Shinji held back a shudder as he felt Gray's hand rub against his own. It was so cold – what was wrong with this boy?

Seeing Shinji's uncomfortable position, Gray quickly withdrew his hand, dropping it protectively back to his side.

"C'mon. I'll introduce you to my old man." Gray muttered. Without sparing once last glance at Shinji, Gray turned back around and opened up the door, completely ignoring the 'Closed' sign. Shinji followed Gray inside the little shop. Once inside, Shinji was overcome with a stench of burning metals and irons. The shop was filled with steam, making Shinji's eyes water slightly. Fighting back the urge to choke as the fumes invaded his lungs, Shinji winced as a slight strangled gag escaped his throat. Gray glanced at Shinji momentarily before stepping through the smoggy mess.

"You'll get used to the smell the longer you stay around it." Shinji could hear Gray mutter to him. Shinji nodded before following Gray. Shinji swiped glances around the shop, taking in every detail. A very large furnace was placed at the back, pushed up against the back wall. Steam was flowing from out of a large pipe extended from the top of the furnace. Next to the furnace was a stove. Hanging on the wall next to the stove were shovels, hammers and other large, metal utensils used for hefting scalding hot ores from one place to another. The large tools were hanging on the wall, dangling from nails nailed into the wall. On the far side of the room was a giant pot filled with water. Shinji didn't have time to see anything else as Gray approached a door through the smog. Stealing a quick glance the older boy, Shinji saw Gray's face harden. Shinji tilted his head as if to ask 'why', but Gray ignored him completely and raised his hand to knock on the door twice.

A low growling sound came from the other side of the wooden door, but soon after came the gruff voice, "We're closed! Go away!"

Gray answered, his voice a bit shaky. "Gramps…uh, Saibara sir. It's me, Gray."

"What are you still doing here! Your time here is up, go back to the Inn!" the voice replied harshly.

"Uh! But…but sir. I would like to introduce you to someone…" Gray mumbled, peeking at Shinji. Shinji gave him a questioning look, but Gray just shrugged. Then the voice behind the door sounded once more.

"Who?"

"It's, uh…the new guy – the one Thomas told us about, sir."

"Him?" the voice asked. Shinji heard footsteps inside the room followed by a small 'click. The door opened to reveal a man a head shorter than Shinji. Many wrinkles plagued his face, making it sag. His aged lips were set into an undying scowl covered by a bushy, drooping white moustache. His eyes barely peeked out from wilting, bushy white eyebrows, adding to the scowl. The old man examined Shinji for a moment, who stood rigid under the old man's gaze, before turning his attention to his grandson.

"Leave. Work is over, there's nothing here for you to do. Get out." The man didn't wait for Gray's answer and beckoned to Shinji. "Hmm. So you're the new man. So it would seem, seeing as how I've never seen your face around these parts before."

Shinji nodded, watching Gray out of the corner of his eye as the blond man left the store. "So it would seem…" he repeated absentmindedly.

"Well, that's tough for only one man, but you can do it if you try. Good luck, young man."

Shinji smiled. "Thank you. I'm…really going to need it…"

The man nodded his head, satisfied. "I'm Saibara, the blacksmith."

"Ah! Oh yes, I'm Shinji. Shinji Mimura."

"Yes, well…" Saibara cleared his voice. "If you ever have questions, come to me. If you ever need help with the farm, I'll have Gray help you out. Now, I have to get back to melding irons for jewelry. So if you'll excuse me."

Shinji nodded, understanding that the conversation was over and he wasn't wanted in the shop anymore. Taking that moment to make his leave, he turned and left, looking back at Saibara and waving as he did so. Once Shinji closed the door to the shop, he took a gratifying breath of air, deeply appreciating the fresh quality to it. After taking another deep breath of fresh air to clear out the remainder smog in his lungs, Shinji looked up. In front of him was Gray with his back turned to him and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Gray?" Shinji intoned.

Gray looked over his shoulder at Shinji and began walking away. Shinji ran to catch up with the older boy.

"So…he's your grandfather?" Shinji asked. Gray merely nodded, not looking at Shinji. Shinji continued. "What did he mean… 'there's nothing here for you to do'? Do you work for him?"

Gray nodded again. "Yes, I work as his apprentice. I'm training to become a blacksmith, like him, so I can take over the smithy when he's finally gone.

"Gray! Do you… uh, well…when you mean 'gone', do you mean you…want your grandfather's death?" Shinji asked hesitantly. After his own late grandfather passed away, 'death' had become touchy topic for Shinji. He had loved his grandfather so much, so he just couldn't imagine anyone wishing their grandfather's death. Gray looked down at him and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Maybe. I dunno. I just want him out of my life – I don't really care how. I can't stand him. I really do…hate him."

Shinji's eyes widened at Gray's answer. "Why! How could you hate your grandfather!"

Gray stopped in his tracks; Shinji stopping soon after. "How could I not? You saw the way he treated me back there, the bastard! He can't stand me, either! No matter how hard I try, my grandfather never praises anything I make or do! He neglects not only my hard work, but me as well! To him, I'm nothing more than some ignorant, useless apprentice, not a grandson! But I swear, I'm going to get that old man to praise me no matter what!"

"…Oh…" Shinji replied intelligently. Gray ignore him and continued walking, turning a right. Shinji watched as they passed a Winery. It was a simple house with a smaller building and a vineyard next to it. Grapes randomly dotted the leafy vines, and Shinji guessed that the smaller building was a wine cellar. His suspicions were confirmed when a man with slicked back, shiny black hair strode out of the door with a crate of filled wine bottles in his arms. Spotting Shinji and Gray, he smirked and waved before entering the bigger house, not seeing Shinji wave back.

Running back to Gray's side, Shinji saw another building, though this one was one of the biggest he'd seen so far. It towered above their heads and was two stories tall. The building was made of wood with random glass windows placed in the walls. Scanning over the windows, Shinji caught sight of a boy staring gloomily out of a window on the second floor. Before Shinji could take in any details about the boy, he glanced down at Shinji and their gazes met for a split moment, but was broken a second later by the boy turning away from the window and out of Shinji's sight. A moment later, the curtains were closed. It seemed out of place cloaked amongst the other exposed windows as it was the only covered window.

Tearing his eyes away from the window, Shinji looked at the pinnacle of the building at a noticeable sign placed on the top.

'Doug's Inn

Hours: 8AM-10PM

Closed: Never'

"So…this is the Inn?" Shinji asked.

Gray raised his blond brow and gave Shinji funny look. "Well, if the giant sign in front of you isn't enough of an answer, then yes. This is an Inn. I've been living here ever since I moved out of the city and came here to work for that old man."

"Ah! You lived in the city!"

Gray nodded, amused by Shinji's shocked expression. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well…I used to live in the city, too, before I came here and took possession of the farm." Gray shrugged, obviously uninterested. But Shinji wanted to find out more, so he continued, "What school did you go to?"

"Destiny High." Gray stated simply.

Shinji's shoulders straightened. "But…isn't that a—"

"Private school? Yup. I attended a private school for three years before coming out here." Shinji opened his mouth to comment on that, but Gray finished before the other boy could interrupt. "I graduated a year early, when I was seventeen. I'm eighteen, now. What about you?"

"Eh? Me? Well…I'm sixteen. I never graduated my local high school because I was expelled during my junior year." Shinji said as he twiddled his thumbs.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Expelled?"

Shinji laughed nervously. "Yeah, expelled. I was always hyperactive as a child – I think the only reason I was able to skip the third grade was because my teacher couldn't handle me. But…in my third year of high school, I almost set the school on fire." Gray's eyes widened. "It was an accident! I was just fooling around with my lighter, and then suddenly…the school was up in flames. Aheh, who knew paper would burn so easily?" Shinji sighed. "After that incident, my parents disowned me. Takura, the original owner of the farm, was the last thing I had left. When he stopped answering my letters, I came to see if everything was okay, and suddenly I inherit his farm. Now I have a chance to start a new life!" Shinji grinned happily.

Gray shrugged. "I don't see why you'd want to start a new life here…"

Shinji tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I hate it around here. There's nothing to do. Don't you think so, too? I just get so bored in this town. I want to go back to the city!" Gray complained, crossing his arms. Shinji looked down.

"I…I don't have much of a choice…" he muttered.

Gray sighed. "Whatever…C'mon."

Not waiting for Shinji to comply, Gray pulled the double door to the Inn open and stepped inside. Shinji followed. Inside were many tables with four chairs seated at each table. In the far upper left corner was a staircase leading up to the second floor. In the back of the giant room was a door. All against the back wall were barrels and shelves filled with liquor and alcohol. An oversized counter was set in front of the shelves with barstools placed at the front of the counter. A small payphone was set on the counter, and a grumpy looking man with slicked back orange hair stood behind the counter, next to a cash register. Orange sideburns traced the side of his face and a small orange moustache covered his lips. Brown eyes spotted the two boys and he smiled welcomingly.

Gray watched as Shinji eyes the liquor shelves and nudged him. "This place becomes a bar at night."

"Oh…" Shinji muttered absentmindedly. Gray ignored him and headed for the stairs. Shinji stayed behind and stepped up to the man behind the long counter, smiling. "Hello!" Shinji greeted. The man nodded as a response.

"Well I haven't seen you around these parts before!" His voice was gruff and matched the way he looked. Shinji shook his head.

"I just moved here from the city."

"Oh, you're the new lad up at the farm, eh? My name's Doug, and I run this here Inn. Welcome!" Doug grinned, making his moustache turn upwards as well. Shinji smiled back.

"I'm Shinji." He told Doug. Doug nodded and turned to the phone as it began to ring. Shinji decided this was the best time as any to make his leave. Turning around, he was about to head for the stairs when he saw something running down it. It was a person. The same person Shinji had seen in the window. The boy turned to glance at Shinji, but when their gazes met, he turned away again and ran out the door.

"Weird…" Shinji muttered, watching him leave. When the boy was gone, Shinji continued for the stairs and began stepping up them. Once he reached the top, he looked around. There were many doors lining the wall, and even a cat wandering around the hall, but what caught Shinji's attention was the first door. It was opening and a girl with red hair pulled back into a braid stepped out. A cute pink bow kept her long braid in placed as it bounced around when she walked. Simple blue overalls and a plain yellow t-shirt decorated her slim body. When she spotted Shinji, her bright blue eyes gleamed even brighter with curiosity. She bounced up to Shinji and smiled.

"Sorry, do I know you? Wait—don't tell me…" her voice trailed off as she thought. "You're…Ah! You're the new guy at the farm, right? Thomas said there would be someone new arriving here."

The girl didn't give Shinji a chance to talk, so he just nodded. The girl laughed lightheartedly. "And I thought you were a guest! Silly me. What's your name?"

Once she paused to catch her breath and give Shinji a chance to answer, Shinji quickly said, "Shinji. My name is Shinji."

The girl smiled. "Oh, your name is Shinji? I'm Ann. I work here at this Inn. My dad's the barkeep, and I work as the cocktail waitress during night and just a waitress during the day. I clean, too!"

Shinji tilted his head to the side. "Oh really? You work here?"

Ann nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I really don't mind cleaning, you know? I _love_ getting dirty and then taking a long, hot bath!"

Shinji smiled awkwardly. "Sounds…nice…"

"Oh, it is! We've been having more guest these days. That makes it much more fun around—" Ann stopped as she heard her name being called from downstairs. Glancing at the staircase, she shout back, "Okay, dad! I'm coming!" Sighing, she turned to Shinji. "Well, I hope I'll see you around here soon, okay? Bye!" After giving Shinji a quick wave, she turned and practically jumped down the stairs.

Sighing, Shinji walked down the hallway. "God, that girl is exhausting…"

Suddenly, a door opened and pulled Shinji in. Looking up, Shinji saw Gray's looking back down at him. After regaining his posture, Shinji glanced around the room he was in. Two separate futons were pressed against the side wall, and a small table like the ones downstairs with four chairs was in the center. Two different bookshelves were against the wall opposite of the futons.

"So this is your room?" Shinji asked Gray. Gray nodded.

Looking at the two futons, Shinji asked Gray, "Do you room with someone? Is that why there are two futons?" Gray nodded again.

"What's their name?"

"His name's Cliff." Gray replied simply. Shinji tilted his head to the side, but decided that the topic wasn't important and continued to study the room. Suddenly, something caught his interest. Against the back wall were two windows. But that wasn't what intrigued him. The window on the right was covered by curtains.

"Ah!"

Gray stared at Shinji, but Shinji ignored him. _So this is the room that boy was in…_ Shinji thought to himself. _Cliff…_

Gray shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Turning to Shinji, he looked at the floor. "Shouldn't you be getting back to your farm now?"

Shinji froze and stared out of the window that wasn't covered by curtains. The sky had darkened and was now rapidly turning to night. Stars slowly began dotting the darkened sky, slightly illuminating the night sky. Shinji tore his gaze from the window and turned to Gray, frowning.

"Yah. I suppose I should get back. Bye!"

"See ya…I guess…" Gray mumbled. Shinji nodded and left the room, heading for the stairs. As he reached the bottom floor, he saw that the atmosphere had completely changed from when he had first entered the Inn. Before, the mood was calm, inactive…_dead_ basically. Now it was the complete opposite. It was lively and energetic with bar music in the background. Everyone one in the room had a beer and was talking animatedly. Doug was behind the bar, mixing up a drink for a man Shinji had seen earlier. He was the one who was at the Winery with the slicked back, shiny black hair. He and Doug were laughing heartedly about something and seemed to be good friends. Many other people were there – a man with a vest and a hat with a feather sticking out of it; a boy with glasses and long, wild, spiky blond hair; a girl next to the be-speckled boy who had a pinkish hue to her face (she seemed to be already drunk); Saibara was there with a bottle of whiskey; a man with slicked back, shiny black hair who looked like a younger duplicate of the Winery man; and a man with blond hair and a kind face with a black robe draping his body (he seemed to be a priest of some sort). Shinji was even surprised to find the mayor Thomas sitting at one of the tables with a cocktail in his hand.

Ann was walking around the tables with a tray in her hand. What confused Shinji was that atop the tray wasn't beer or liquor of any kind, but a simple glass of water. Watching as she delivered the glass to a table in a far right corner, Shinji's jaw dropped when he saw who grabbed the glass. It was the boy from the window; the boy who had run out of the Inn when he caught sight of Shinji – Cliff. Taking a deep breath to regain his posture, Shinji sauntered over to the table where the boy sat and watched as Ann sat down and began talking to Cliff. Shinji's eyes narrowed.

_Damn her…she stole my spot…_ he mentally growled.

Shrugging, Shinji approached the table where Cliff and Ann sat, trying to walk with a sexy stride. As the thought crossed him mind, Shinji nearly tripped over his feet. What the hell am I doing? he though angrily. Sighing, he continued walking towards the table in the corner. Cliff didn't look up, but stared down at his drink sorrowfully, slightly stirring it around with his finger. Shinji watched it. Ann was talking animatedly to Cliff, but Cliff refused to look up. It was apparent that the whole conversation was pretty much one-sided. It was only when Shinji approached the table that Ann ceased her conversation with Cliff and turned in the wooden chair to look at him, eyes sparkling.

"Hey! What's up!" she basically yelled at Shinji. Shinji forced a smile.

"Hey, Ann." When he spoke, Cliff finally glanced up from his glass of water. Shinji looked down at him and smiled, trying to encourage him into the conversation as well. But Cliff didn't take the hint and only stared. Shinji's smile disappeared as he stared back. Their gazes held, unbroken, and Ann looked between the two, trying to figure out what was going on. She opened her mouth to say something, but shrieked when a large 'crash' slammed against their table. Only then did Shinji's hold on Cliff's gaze cease as the boy backed away from the table, his chair backing up as well. Ann shrieked again as the man from the Winery tried rolling off their table. Cliff watched the scene with wide as he tried to scoot his chair back even further, but his back was met with the wall.

"…The hell?" Shinji gasped.

"Take…that, Uncle…Duke!" came a slurred voice. The man on the table, 'Uncle Duke', sat up on his elbow on Cliff's table, wiping a bit of blood from his mouth. He glared in front of him at the source of the voice. Shinji followed his gaze and was met with the girl from before. A bottle of wine was clenched in her left hand. Dirty blond hair covered her face in a sweaty mess, but Shinji could tell she was smirking foolishly. Her free hand was balled into a fist and she reeked of booze. It was obvious she was drunk.

"Dammit, Karen!" the man on the table top yelled.

The girl, Karen, ignored her uncle and began to unsteadily stumble out of the Inn. Doug sighed and walked up to the Winery man, offering him a hand. The man took it gratefully and hopped of the table. Turning to everyone else in the bar (who were completely silent as they watched the scene before them), Doug cleared his throat.

"Everyone! The bar is closed for tonight! Come back tomorrow! Now get out, ya' drunkards!" he ordered cheerfully with a smile plastered to his face. A few of his costumers laughed and headed out the door, while other finished their drinks and staggered out the door as well. Shinji was no different. As he headed towards the door, he grabbed someone's unfinished drink and brought it with him. Once out the door, he turned back to wait for Cliff to catch up, but the smaller boy was no where to be seen. Remembering that Cliff stayed at the Inn, Shinji shrugged and brought the drink to his lips. Tipping the glass back far enough to make the fizzing liquid enter his awaiting mouth, he froze when he felt the cool alcohol slide down his throat. Immediately, Shinji began to gag. He could feel his eyes watering as he continued to retch the bitter drink. Clutching his burning throat, Shinji squeezed his eyes shut, willing the coughing to stop. Once he was finally able to restrain his gagging, Shinji opened his eyes and swallowed, soaking up the flavor of the alcohol. It left quite a bitter aftertaste, but a pleasant floating feeling clouding his mind was left with the bitterness as well. Shinji glanced down at the drink in his hands, wondering if he should take another drink. The gagging was complete hell, but the after effects were worth gagging your lungs out. Besides, the gagging was tolerable. Just as Shinji began to take another drink, he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him jump and causing the liquor to spill over the glass. Spinning around, he came face-to-face with the man from the bar. He wore a hat with a feather sticking out of it and a vest covering his chest. Camping equipment was strapped to his back, making him look pretty much like a tourist. Brown locks fell from his hat and around his blue eyes.

"Hey there!" he said cheerfully. "Are you a tourist?"

Shinji's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. He was in complete shock. Someone dress up like this man was actually asking if _he_ was a tourist. Shinji shook his head in disbelief. _This man must be drunk. Yes, he must be the drunkest out of everyone, even that girl, Karen._ The man tilted his head as he watched Shinji shake his head, thinking that the boy meant, 'No, I'm not a tourist', instead of, 'Get this drunkard away from me. Who the hell does he think he is?'

"No? So are you new in town?" he continued.

Shinji sighed. "Yes, I moved into the farm down that way."

The man smiled. "This town is beautiful, and the people are nice, so I bet you'll like it here. Sure the people tend to get a bit drunk at times, but they're still nice, nonetheless."

Shinji smiled back. "Thanks. I'm Shinji by the way. You are…?"

The mans smile faltered for a second, but was replaced by a bigger smile. "Me? Oh, sorry, the name's Basil. I'm studying the flora of this area. Of course, I go have a drink after the day's done. All work and no play makes Basil a dull boy, am I right, Shinji?" he laughed. Shinji nodded, raising the glass in his hands to his lips again. Taking another sip of the alcohol, Shinji pulled the glass away as he began to cough again, a bit of the bitter liquid dripping down the side of his mouth. This time, though, his coughing fit didn't last as long as the first and it only took him a few minutes to restrain his gags. He was quite proud of himself. After a few more sips, he doubted that he would be coughing at all anymore! Shinji grinned to himself, slightly reveling in his thoughts. But laughter interrupted his thoughts. Shinji looked up at Basil, who was clutching his stomach as he laughed.

Shinji glared at him, but his glared turned into a pout. He had never quite mastered the fine art of glaring yet. "…What…" Shinji asked suspiciously, an offended tone etched into his voice. Basil took a breath a stopped laughing to answer.

"What's wrong, kid? Can't hold your liquor?" Shinji flushed red and looked away with a pout/semi-glare on his face. Basil chuckled and snatched the glass away from Shinji's grasp, making Shinji whimper in protest. Basil ignored him and in one quick quaff, downed the drink in one swallow. When the liquid was gone from the glass, he looked up at Shinji and grinned.

"Mmm…Scotch Whiskey. One of Doug's specialties." Basil told Shinji, licking his lips.

Shinji crossed his arms. "I was gonna drink that, you know…"

Basil grinned. "You're underage."

Shinji glanced at him, blushing. "So what? Half of the people who were in there were underage. Doug didn't seem to mind at all!"

Basil laughed. "You got me there, kid. Doug's just funny like that. As long as you're willing to pay, he doesn't care who you are. Besides, it's you and your parents' responsibility. If your parents don't want you to be drinking, then Doug won't sell you anything. Like my daughter, Mary. She's almost seventeen now, but I've let her drink a bit. She, personally, doesn't like to drink very often, but when she does, she really knows how to put it away!" Basil laughed.

Shinji didn't say anything. Basil continued. "Well, I should get home. My wife doesn't like it when I drink, and she _really_ doesn't like it when I stay out _late_ to drink. So…see ya!" Basil smiled and turned around, turning right on the corner of the Winery.

"Bye!" Shinji called out. As he walked past the Winery, he could hear shouting coming from inside, soon followed by something glass breaking. Shinji turned to stare, but quickly turned away again when the door opened and slammed shut again. The man from the Winery stepped out with his coat hanging on his shoulder. Spotting Shinji, he stopped and walked over to the boy. A pinkish hue was spread across his face. He was drunk.

"Hmm? Who the hell are you?" he asked curiously.

"Ah!" Shinji started. "Eh, I'm Shinji."

"Oh…you're the new lad at the farm, are you? Thomas told Manna and me about you. My name's Duke. Pleased to make you acquaintance. I run the Winery and make the wine, while my wife, Manna, sells it." The man told Shinji. Shinji nodded. Suddenly the door to the house opened and a small bag filled with clothes flew out, followed by the door slamming shut again. Duke sighed and picked up the bag filled with his clothes.

"Hey, sorry you had to see that. Manna can't stand it when I get drunk, because then she has to pay the tab…which gets pretty high when I drink." Duke laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, slightly messing up his slicked back hair.

Shinji bowed slightly before saying, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Duke waved Shinji's comment away with his hand and turned around. "See ya, kid."

Shinji nodded and began the trek back to his farm as Duke began walking towards the Inn.

* * *

As Shinji entered his lifeless property, he sighed. He still had so much work to do. But that work would have to wait. Right now he needed sleep – badly. As he entered his small house and headed towards the bed, he clutched his head. He felt a major headache coming on, and tried to will sleep to come to him faster. Maybe he could just sleep through the headache. But Shinji knew better. After seeing his father drink, he knew that he would wake up to something much worse than what he was feeling that moment. And he only had two sips of whiskey! Just two!

Soon, Shinji's tired body slowly drifted to sleep, plagued by dreams of his father's drinking problems. He really hoped that his father's desired to drink hadn't been passed on to Shinji.

* * *

**A/N:** Pathetic ending, I know. So sorry about the whole drinking thing. As you can tell, there will be some more underage drinking in later chappys. I hope that doesn't bother you… just pretend that they're all 28! Yeah, that's it! But seriously, in the game, they can't be any older than 18, yet almost everyone drinks! –sigh–

I won't tell you the pairings yet, but you'll find out soon enough! And I type as I think, or maybe I think as I type…or something…I really don't know…

Does anyone think I should continue? Hmm? n.n

Review, or I'll eat your children! XD

…Just kidding…


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